View methods side by side.
Choose up to four methods. Add them using the search and share the comparison by copying its link.
| Criterion |  UX Research Card Sorting |  Decision Making Delphi Method |  Decision Making Trade-off Analysis |  Decision Making Decision Tree |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When content only makes sense internally and users can't find the structure again, card sorting exposes their mental order. Terms, groups, and naming are then aligned with the target group's expectations. | When knowledge is distributed and direct dominance should be avoided, groups quickly fall under the sway of their opinion leaders. The Delphi Method gathers assessments iteratively and gradually brings expert judgments closer together. | With limited resources, quality, speed, cost, and risk almost always compete with each other. Trade-off Analysis makes these tensions explicit and prevents decisions from producing hidden side effects. | For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 20-45 min | 1-4 Wochen | 45-120 min | 30-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | Based on research question | 6-30 Experten | 2-8 | 1-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses | Expert Forecast, Consensus Range, Assumption Notes | Trade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides | Decision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List |
Tagsno overlap | Information architectureNavigationStructure | ForecastingExpertsDecisionStrategy | TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions | DecisionTreeOptions |